The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
There are many applications where a seal is required between a rotating component and a stationary component, such as in a torque converter, a transmission or an engine. A ring seal is used to seal the rotating component to the stationary component in order to keep fluids on either side of the ring seal from escaping to the other side. The ring seal typically includes a circular member that fits around the stationary component and an outer surface that engages the surface of the rotating component. One complication of the above described ring seal is that the ring seal usually remains stationary relative to the rotating component while still maintaining an effective seal to the rotating component. In this regard, the typical ring seal must keep friction forces between the ring seal and the rotating component to a minimum while still maintaining enough radial force to keep fluid from moving past the ring seal.
One solution known in the art to keeping these radial friction forces to a minimum is to force the ring seal to move in an axial direction against a tab or groove formed on the stationary component. By using axial forces, radial forces can be kept to a minimum. Axial forces typically originate from a pressure differential of the fluid on each side of the ring seal. As the pressure differential changes from one side of the ring seal to the other, the ring seal is able to move from one position sealed against the stationary component to a second position sealed against the stationary component.
However, in certain applications, such as a torque converter, it may be desirable to maintain the seal even when there is a reduction in pressure to the energized side of the seal in order to keep the torque converter filled with hydraulic fluid and improve drivability. Thus, there is a need in the art for a ring seal assembly that maintains sealing during low pressure conditions in a torque converter that accommodates high speed, high temperature, tolerance stack-ups, and high pressure.